What had been, up to late last year, something of a resurgence of Venezuela’s oil exports, due primarily to clandestine shipping arrangements targeting the Chinese markets (and circumventing United States sanctions in the process) has been taking a tumble since early this month, according to reports from Bloomberg.
During the first week of this month Bloomberg was reporting that oil sales from the South American country believed to possess the largest oil reserves anywhere, had plummeted sharply in December under the weight of stepped up United States scrutiny for oil tankers on the high seas originating from Venezuelan ports seeking to circumvent the sanctions. Bloomberg reported that the recent net effect of the intensified sanctions watch has “left some of the South American country’s cargoes stranded in Asia and that with the competition for markets among fellow OPEC members set to heat up, Venezuela’s oil exports are likely to come under even greater pressure in the period ahead.
